JBL Clip 4 vs Clip 5: which should you buy?

Buy a discounted Clip 4 unless you want Auracast. The Clip 5's real changes are an Auracast button for linking to other current JBL speakers, 12 hours of battery instead of 10, 7 W instead of 5 W, a wider carabiner and thicker silicone padding on the back. Both are IP67. If you will only ever use one speaker on its own, that list does not justify a full-price purchase against a well-discounted Clip 4.

This is the most valuable question in portable audio and almost nobody asks it on purpose. Manufacturers iterate quickly, the outgoing model's street price falls sharply the moment a replacement appears, and the changes between generations are frequently concentrated in connectivity rather than sound. Knowing which is which is worth real money, and with the Clip family the honest answer is that the changes are modest.

What has not changed at all is the reason to buy either one. The carabiner is the product. Both clip to a backpack strap, a shower caddy, a bike frame or a golf bag without an accessory, and both hold. Everything below is a question of degree on top of that.

What actually changed

Two of those rows deserve attention. The wider carabiner sounds cosmetic and is not — it is the difference between fitting a thick backpack strap or a shower rail and not fitting it, and on a speaker whose entire purpose is attachment that is the most practical change in the list. The Auracast button is the other: it is the only feature here you cannot get by waiting for a sale.

Who should buy which

Buy the Clip 5 if

• You want Auracast linking, or expect to add more current-generation JBL speakers later.
• You need the wider carabiner for a thick strap, a rail or a roll bar.
• You want the extra two watts, which is a meaningful percentage at this size even if it is small in absolute terms.
• The discount on the Clip 4 is thin, which happens as stock dries up.

Buy a discounted Clip 4 if

• You want one speaker and have no plans for a second.
• IP67 is the specification you cared about — and it is identical on both.
• Ten hours covers your day, which for a clip-on speaker it usually does.
• The discount is substantial. That is the entire argument, and it is a good one.

One compatibility note, because it catches people out: Auracast is not backward compatible with JBL's older PartyBoost system, and the Clip 4 has neither. So a Clip 5 will link with current JBL models and not with a PartyBoost-era Flip or Charge. We untangle that whole mess in Auracast vs PartyBoost.

The option neither of them is

Illustrative

The value alternative to both

Tribit StormBox Micro 2

The best-argued cheap speaker on the market, and now a last-generation bargain.

What it does well

Ten watts against the Clip 5's seven, IP67 sealing, and a molded rubber strap that mounts to handlebars and bag straps — at a fraction of either Clip's price. A passive radiator gives it low end that neither Clip can produce.

Where it cuts corners

The strap is less convenient than a metal carabiner for quick on-and-off, there is no Auracast, and it is being superseded by a Micro 3, so stock is thinning.

Who it is for

Anyone whose reason for looking at a Clip was the size rather than the clip itself.

• Battery: Up to 12 hours
• Water rating: IP67 — submersible to 1 m for 30 minutes, dustproof
• Output: 10 W
• Weight: 315 g

Check price on Amazon→Read the full Tribit StormBox Micro 2 review

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Illustrative

The current generation

JBL Clip 5

The carabiner is the whole product, and it is a genuinely good one.

What it does well

The integrated metal carabiner, now wider, clips to things no strap-based rival reaches, and it holds. For a speaker this small the midrange is unusually clean, and the Auracast button links it with current JBL speakers without an app dance.

Where it cuts corners

There is almost no bass, because there is almost no cabinet, and it is priced well above rivals that sound similar — purely on the strength of the clip. Twelve hours is modest.

Who it is for

People who need the speaker attached to something rather than sitting on it.

• Battery: 12 hours, plus up to 3 more in Playtime Boost mode
• Water rating: IP67 — submersible to 1 m for 30 minutes, dustproof

Check price on Amazon→Read the full JBL Clip 5 review

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Illustrative

The budget answer

Soundcore Select 4 Go

The honest answer at the very bottom of the market.

What it does well

IP67 and 20 hours of battery — nearly double either Clip — at the lowest price on this page, in a 265 g body with a strap that takes a carabiner.

Where it cuts corners

Five watts matches the Clip 4 and trails the Clip 5, bass is largely absent, and the clip is an accessory rather than part of the product.

Who it is for

Showers, desks and tents where the budget is the binding constraint.

• Battery: 20 hours
• Water rating: IP67 — submersible to 1 m for 30 minutes, dustproof
• Output: 5 W
• Weight: 265 g

Check price on Amazon→

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The same exercise for JBL's other models is in Flip 7 vs Flip 6 and Charge 6 vs Charge 5, and the broader tactic of buying the outgoing generation deliberately is the first of the two moves in best for the money. If you are choosing between JBL's two smallest models rather than two generations of one, Clip 5 vs Go 4 is the page you want.